Piled in the Freestyle for the first road trip with three kids and the wife from Greer to Myrtle Beach to see the grandparents. Heard a squeak, felt a shudder. Pulled over and everything sounded OK. The tensioner looked like it was wobbling a bit.

Drove some more, heard the noise again, pulled over at a rest stop. Same thing.

Drove some more, heard the noise again, pulled over at a rest stop. Same thing.

Wife and I made the call to turn around. Bear in mind we have three kids in the car, one needs to nurse, the other two are cranky and confused. We left right after work and were planning to get to Myrtle around 11:30pm after having been up since 3 AM and getting maybe 3-4 hours of sleep each.

We get within 45 minutes of home, I start calling out the miles. Puhhh. Nothing. Tranny is shot.

Call a bud with kids to pick up the kids and wife, call AAA for me and the car. Now we're sitting here. 7K invested that drained our bank account about three months ago is sitting in the driveway with a dead $5K CVT. The one in it now was a reman put in 25K ago.

Do I...?

Buy a $5k reman and spend a week putting it in (we're into "loan" cash now)

Buy a $500 (est) junkyard piece and pray, spend a week putting it in, then sell the car or keep it

Buy a replacement car now with loan and then swap the used tranny later to sell the car and make up some of the money back?

Car choices: Taurus X, Mazda5 (a bit small), ??? Three kids + 75 lb dog.

Until then we're going to get the 3 hours past bedtime kids into bed and convince them they aren't going to Nana's and unpack all of the stuff my poor wife has been packing all day.

This isn't meant as a rant or as a pitty party. Just looking for ideas.

She won't drive an Astro.

2 and/or 3.

I know CVT's have been proven out, but they are garbage. Stick to things with actual gears in them.

BTW, no warranty on the reman?

Ranger50 wrote: #2 and/or 3. I know CVT's have been proven out, but they are garbage. Stick to things with actual gears in them. BTW, no warranty on the reman?

Bought is with the reman... I haven't checked but I doubt the warranty would transfer to the new owner.

JY trannies are between 1600-2500 on car-part.com

I can't see putting 5k into another transmission for a 7k car, though with it blown it is a $1500 car. I'd say get the JY trans in it, shop for a replacement, and sell it once you have the replacement. Do what needs to be done to get it running again and get out.

+1 on Sonic's advice.

tuna55 wrote: Bought is with the reman... I haven't checked but I doubt the warranty would transfer to the new owner.

I would still check it out..... Nothing to really lose at this point.

Ranger50 wrote:

tuna55 wrote: Bought is with the reman... I haven't checked but I doubt the warranty would transfer to the new owner.

I would still check it out..... Nothing to really lose at this point.

Will do - E-mail sent to PO. Now I have to figure out if I want to spend 2 grand on a JY tranny or what...

racinginc215 wrote: Can we try and option not on the list? Like having it scanned for codes for the transmission? before you jump into replacing the thing lets find out if a wire harness chaffed and you killed a solenoid. if I recall correctly the CVT has 10 or so solenoids controlling the thing and the Freestyle did a wire harness issue, So can we check the basics first before we yank the trans? and the trans won't always toss the wrench light on the dash on. Lets start simple first. I mean if you spent 2000 on a trans and then all the labor to find out a wire got cut you would have to turn in your GRM subscription.

Good points, all. I have a P0701 code and I have both the wrench light and the engine light. I cleared the codes through my scanner (not reader), the engine light went out and came back on after a few seconds.

Put it in gear and it loads up the converter. Floor it and it stalls the engine. Does it in L, D or R. Revs to 3K like normal in N or P. If I neutral drop it (light throttle) it moves a few inches before trying to stall.

Does the P0701 automatically (pun!) condemn the trans? There were tons of noises and things that squeaked as it died the final time before going onto the flatbed. It acts like it's seized now.

Any other transmissions fit in there? Or was the CVT the only one on that car?

IMO, make sure that the transmission really is what failed, and that there is no warranty, then get rid of it. If you think its worth buying a junkyard one and swapping it in, then do that, take it for a 15 minute drive to make sure it works, then sell it. CVTs have been around since the 70s, and from what I have heard about them, there is a reason most cars dont have them.

tuna, Your family situation is a lot like mine, so I feel your pain. I can only imagine what would happen if our Sedona crapped its' pants.

If it turns out the trans is totally cooked, I'd ditch it. It's not worth much with a blown tranny, but what would you get for it if you did change the it out? Is it financialy worth it? If you do decide to change it, sell it as soon as you do.

called the dealer. They didn't buy it, they just put it in. They would have covered it under warranty, so now I have to find out who the PO bought it from and ask them...

Sonic wrote: I can't see putting 5k into another transmission for a 7k car, though with it blown it is a $1500 car. I'd say get the JY trans in it, shop for a replacement, and sell it once you have the replacement. Do what needs to be done to get it running again and get out.

Unless it turns out there is a way to resurrect the current transaxle, I would do this too. Throw in a junkyard trans, sell it and buy something else.

Googlefoo has the potential of saying the mechatronics assembly, the CVT's "valvebody", is DOA. Either way, fix it and unload it.

Any ideas on how much it's resalable for with a jy vs a broken tranny? Is it worth the time/$??

Could it be that hard to swap in a JY 500's 5-Speed Auto?

Javelin wrote: Could it be that hard to swap in a JY 500's 5-Speed Auto?

As with anything modern and automotive, the physical barriers are nothing compared to getting the electronics to control it, I would assume.

Tuna, sorry to hear about the misfortune.

tuna55 wrote: Any ideas on how much it's resalable for with a jy vs a broken tranny? Is it worth the time/$??

Based on what is already said, you have a $7k vehicle needing at minimum $2k in repairs..... You would be lucky to get $3500 after haggling.

Used trannies with 100K+ are $2500. I estimate 10-20 hours for the swap, which translate realistically into a week+ my time.

The dealer will do it in two days for $5570.

Unless someone is itching to do a transmission swap and has a unit sitting in their garage, this is awfully tempting...

Push it offa something and claim it got hit by a train?

Wait, no, insurance fraud is bad.

I'm guessing that the tranny isn't totally fubar'd but more likely the electronics or electrohydraulic controls are. Have you PM'd Curtis? He used to run a transmission shop.

I wouldn't fix it. IMO the same part failing twice in a short time means its time for a new vehicle, especially for that kind of money.

tuna55 wrote: Used trannies with 100K+ are $2500. I estimate 10-20 hours for the swap, which translate realistically into a week+ my time. The dealer will do it in two days for $5570. Unless someone is itching to do a transmission swap and has a unit sitting in their garage, this is awfully tempting...

Is there another car that works for you that you can get into for around $5570 + whatever you can get in trade for the Freestyle?

Don't make any decisions until you KNOW that they aren't going to warranty-out this transmission. Rent a car for a week if you have to.

If it's not under warranty write to Ford and point out that the car only has 75kmi on it and 25kmi on the box and that they have gotten a good reputation for quality recently. They might at least help out with it.